Outline
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
ACTS 9 NLT
1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats
with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the
high priest.
2 He requested letters addressed to the
synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any
followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and
women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3 As he was approaching Damascus on this
mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the
voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
6Now get up and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do.”
7The men with Saul stood speechless, for they
heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!
8 Saul picked himself up off the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand
to Damascus.
9 He remained there blind for three days
and did not eat or drink.
10 Now there was a believer in Damascus
named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes,
Lord!” he replied.
11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight
Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus
named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
12 I have shown him a vision of a man named
Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve
heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the
believers in Jerusalem!
14 And he is authorized by the leading
priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my
chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as
to the people of Israel.
16 And I will show him how much he must
suffer for my name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid
his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you
on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with
the Holy Spirit.”
18 Instantly something like scales fell
from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was
baptized.
19Afterward he ate some food and regained his
strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul stayed with the believers in
Damascus for a few days.
20And immediately he began preaching about Jesus
in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
21 All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t
this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in
Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them
in chains to the leading priests?”
22 Saul’s preaching became more and more
powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was
indeed the Messiah.
23 After a while some of the Jews plotted
together to kill him.
24 They were watching for him day and night
at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their
plot.
25 So during the night, some of the other
believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city
wall.
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried
to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not
believe he had truly become a believer!
27 Then Barnabas brought him to the
apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and
how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached
boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 So Saul stayed with the apostles and
went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the
Lord.
29 He debated with some Greek-speaking
Jews, but they tried to murder him.
30 When the believers heard about this,
they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.
31 The church then had peace throughout
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in
the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also
grew in numbers.
32 Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to
place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.
33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who had
been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ
heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed
instantly.
35 Then the whole population of Lydda and
Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.
36 There was a believer in Joppa named
Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas ). She was always doing kind things for
others and helping the poor.
37 About this time she became ill and died.
Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.
38But the believers had heard that Peter was
nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as
possible!”
39 So Peter returned with them; and as soon
as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with
widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had
made for them.
40 But Peter asked them all to leave the
room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.”
And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!
41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then
he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them
alive.
42 The news spread through the whole town,
and many believed in the Lord.
43 And Peter stayed a
long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.
